In addition to the Ruff found by Jeanelle Richardson and reported by Russ Koppendrayer this morning, there is also a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper feeding in the same area at Three Crabs today at noon, found by Dow Lambert and Denny Van Horn. At least 4 Pectoral Sandpipers are with them, providing great comparisons.

These birds are in the grassy marsh by Meadowbrook Creek, flooded by the Three Crabs restoration project. It is south of the former restaurant site, across the road.

But most importantly, if you come this way you must take a look at the shoreline of Dungeness Bay and appreciate the thousands of migrant California Gulls here right now. There is a constant stream of them flying in from the east, after they have made their flights over high mountain ranges to get to the Salish Sea. Several thousand are roosting along the shores of Dungeness Bay — my conservative estimate today is 6,000 for the whole bay. These numbers repeat themselves along the entire Olympic coastline at other bays and river mouths, tens of thousands of them traveling here from mostly Alberta nesting colonies, then off to wintering areas in California and Mexico. It is one of the most unappreciated migration of birds through the Salish Sea.